Brenda’s Story

Brenda is a hypothyroid gal who also had almost flatline cortisol levels..i.e. VERY fatigued adrenals. She followed treatment with cortisol, and has now weaned off successfully. She has learned to stress dose when needed.

I found this group in August of 2006. I had been diagnosed with adrenal burnout. I don’t know actually what stage but on the chart my cortisol was a flatline pretty much. I would come home from work and lay on the couch until bedtime. Drag myself up the next day and repeat.

During this time I also had rotator cuff surgery in Feb. of 06. And my husband, who has always been healthy with no high blood pressure and no high cholesterol, started having chest pains and had to have 5 bypasses in May of 2006. Also, I had 3 kids moving that summer! So there was a lot of stress and I believe that is was “did me in”!

My doctor suggested licorice and sleep aids. That did not work. I became addicted to Ambien and couldn’t sleep without it. After a month she prescribed cortef and I went from the compounded T3 I had been taking for years to Armour. During that time I also had to go in for heart tests because my heart was pounding and skipping beats. All the tests came back perfectly normal. My cholesterol was going up. Doc thought I had insulin resistance. I was falling apart.

At this point, I found this group. I learned from Valerie how to dose my Cortef…how to watch for thyroid dumps…how to recognize different symptoms and check my temps. My health, my meds were the top thing on my mind most days. I worried, fretted, read, adjusted and readjusted trying to feel better. This went on several months.

Getting close to Christmas 06 I began to forget my doses of Cortef. I decided that I would continue it until after the holidays and then I would start to wean off and see how I did.

I have been completely weaned off Cortef since around February of 2007. I am taking 3 grains of Armour a day. I was able to stop the Ambien with many sleepless nights and some natural sleep aids which I no longer need. I am working on losing some weight. Doc prescribed a diet pill to help me “this one time”!!

All in all I feel so much better. I am still tired at times but I have a very busy life and lots of kids and grandkids and maybe I’m just tired! I have learned to recognize when I just need to lay down and rest and when sometimes I need a boost and take some Cortef. (If things really get stressfull).

I just some pictures of myself—the first is before I had been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue. I was so tired, swollen, depressed. It got to the point that I didn’t care if I lived or died. It would have been easier just to go to sleep and not wake up. The second was after I had weaned myself off Cortef. To me, there is a big difference in the way I look. Although I probably weighed the same in both pictures the first is puffy and swollen. Now when I see people who look like that I just want to say “Have your thyroid and adrenals checked”.

Anyway, just wanted to give you my story. I thank Val for all the time she puts in to help us and her patience with all the thousands of questions over and over again.

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Thyroid Madness Definition according to many reported patient experiences:

Treating most hypothyroid patients with T4-only meds; offering no options.

Dosing solely by the TSH and the total T4, or using the outdated "Thyroid Panel".

Prescribing anti-depressants in lieu of evaluating and treating the free T3.

The Endocrine Society of Australia (ESA) came out with their final position paper on Natural Desiccated Thyroid. Ready to throw up at what many hypothyroid patients will state is overt ignorance and condescending arrogance?? Are we not surprised?? Below are…